Supernatural Occurence?

Sun, 2009-04-05 18:11 — Bells of Fields

Question::

When I was 14 years old and about to fall asleep in my room, I was laying upright on my bed when I heard a horrible screeching sound (like a pig squealing VERY loud) and saw my cup fly off my desk (horizontally) as if thrown across the room and hit the opposite wall of an approximately 10 yard wide room.
There were no fans or air currents on. The cup was an empty large sized plastic cup .The lights were on, I had not yet begun falling asleep. I was old enough to make logical conclusions and not let my imagination run loose. And I have never had any mental illnesses or head injuries (just for the question’s sake). And it was not a prank, only child, no one else in the room. I am also not trolling just trying to create a difficult situation for you to answer.
I was agnostic at the time, did not believe in any supernatural occurrences. As you can imagine I ran out of my room absolutely freaked out. Ran up to my dad told him the whole situation, he was playing computer games and pretty much didn’t care. So I stayed awake for another two hours watching TV and eventually went to bed in the same room…removing the cup and hoping it wouldn’t happen again, which it thankfully didn’t.
I acknowledge the dangers of people labeling unexplainable events as supernatural (a popular past-time in the dark ages). And I do not want to be mirroring this ignorant hobby. But I am also tired of doubting what could have happened that night.
Maybe it was a freak scientific fluke or magnetic field of the house, something VERY rare that could be described scientifically. Or could it possibly be a supernatural occurrence?
By supernatural occurrence I am talking about energies relating ghost or psychic abilities. I hear stories about it all the time and every one I hear I ignore as a fluke. But is it possible that very rarely such occurrences are true?
It may be inaccurate to immediately label the situation on something humans have no hard evidence about .But since there seems to be lots of modern accounts of this happening, most of them probably exaggerated, but I have a definite personal experience, this is the only explanation I could think of…or maybe just a freak scientific occurrence? I’m pretty confused on this subject, what does this sound like from your position?
(Sorry for the long letter, I wanted to be thorough)

Atheist Answer:

Is it possible that you had a supernatural experience? Sure. We'll never rule them out completely, because there are an infinite number of mechanisms we can and can't imagine by which they could happen. Is it likely, though? Probably not, because the number of possible natural explanations is just as large.

You heard a screech, and then saw your cup flying across the room as if thrown. My first thought is that it was thrown, or at least struck, by a wild animal who got into your room. If you didn't have the fan or the air on, you probably had the window or the door open. If not, perhaps it got in earlier, and escaped when you ran out to your father. Would you have noticed as you freaked out? (Possible test: describe the squeal in detail on a wildlife forum as if you heard it outside, then listen to the suggested animals on YouTube and see if they ring a bell.)

Coming up with natural hypotheses is fun, but considering the supernatural alternatives is fun too. Say the cup was deliberately thrown by a ghost or other ethereal entity. (Note: the "aether" is actually a long-discarded scientific concept, not just a story.) Why? And why only once? Did you manage to discern some sort of message from the action? Did the cup have any significance, or the place it flew to? Since the entity would probably realise you didn't get the message, why didn't it try again?

I applaud you for the wealth of good skepticism you've already applied to this event. I know it's frustrating when you're still left without an explanation, and the prospect remains that you'll never really know. I hope I've made you a little more optimistic that there is a natural explanation to be had, even if you don't find it.